Anybody had a gander at the new Korchnoi DVD's by Chessbase? I'm a great admirer of the old gentleman. He is still a formidable player at a time when most chess players have trouble assembling jigsaw puzzles in retirement homes. I've ordered them and expect them soon. I'll tell you what I think when I've had time to check them out. In the two DVD series by Korchnoi, he takes us through some of his past games, the Karpov Match, etc. I like the Chessbase dvd series, except I think they've just scratched the surface, regarding production values. Surely, they can have more that a talking head and a chessboard but...enough of that now. More later.
Originally posted by buddy2I've been considering buying them; they look very good. If you could let us know what you think, mate, I'd greatly appreciate it.
Anybody had a gander at the new Korchnoi DVD's by Chessbase? I'm a great admirer of the old gentleman. He is still a formidable player at a time when most chess players have trouble assembling jigsaw puzzles in retirement homes. I've ordered them and expect them soon. I'll tell you what I think when I've had time to check them out. In the two DVD se ...[text shortened]... , they can have more that a talking head and a chessboard but...enough of that now. More later.
Well, two DVD's arrived from Chesscafe (USCF Sales). My Life for Chess in two volumes. Delightful collection. There are about twenty games in both, narrated by Korchnoi, with much background information and anecdotes by the old grandmaster. He says he has played against 5 or 6 generations of players and is still going strong. His mind seems real sharp. Opponents are the likes of Spassky, Tal, Short, Kasparov, etc. As an aside he says he played in a simul in England in 1978 against some juniors. One small boy beat him: Nigel Short! Then he goes on to narrate a win against Short many years later. All the games are Korchnoi wins with a few draws. My only disappointment regarding his choice of opponents is that he didn't include Fischer, and he had several wins against him. His impressions of Fischer would be interesting, but I guess that's an American prejudice. One unpublicized benefit of the DVD's is that they include a database of about 3000 games of Korchnoi, all the way up to 2005! The DVD's can be played on CB9 or Fritz 8. Also you can install a Chessbase Reader from the DVD. I had the impression that Korchnoi was a rather formidable person, quick tempered irascible. On this DVD he seems grandfatherly and quite animated. he does have his opinions, though. In the introduction, when the interviewer is discussing his life, he says that Korchnoi "emigrated" from the Soviet Union. K quickly corrected him by saying he "defected." He is still pretty angry about his treatment by the Soviet authorities. Chessbase still hasn't learned about production values, even though the core offering is excellent. It looks like they threw a bedsheet behind K as a backdrop. Why couldn't they put a vase of flowers on the desk. Why can't they splice in a picture of Magnus Carlsen, when he mentions playing the fourteen year old prodigy? Or Karpov with his 14 man entourage in the Phillipines during their match. Compared with Chessbase, Roman's Lab series looks like a Hollywood extravaganza. He at least has some books behind him. But...don't get me started. If you like grandmaster chess, analyzed by a legend, close up and personal, get these DVD's. Wouldn't it be great if we had something like this by Alekhine or Capablanca or even Fischer? this is only an initial review. Haven't had time to really get to know them yet.